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Posted (edited)
21 hours ago, dennismcc said:

That is so impressive, I have not long fitted and bent all the ignition wires on my Ki 44 but was not happy so I am starting over, so I can appreciate the skill (and patience) that went into youe engine.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

Thank you Dennis!  I found it important to use soft lead wire and to make sure that glue connection between the ring and the wires was solid.

 

 

17 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

Wow!!

 

Thank you!

 

 

8 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

Sublime work as always John. Always impressed by the precise nature of your work and photography.

 

 

 

Matt 

Thanks Matt!  Appreciate the comments!

 

 

I'm waiting for a new rivet tool to arrive on Monday before I start that particular adventure.  So filling in the days with minor work.  Like fabricating a new pitot tube using 1.0mm, 0.8mm and 0.6mm brass tubing.
IMG-9389.jpg




The short section of 0.8mm tubing will simply be a sleeve so that the 0.6mm slides into the 1.0mm without play and therefore straight.
IMG-9390.jpg




The ends of the both tubes are beveled by chucking the pieces into my rotary tool and lightly grinding the tip at the appropriate angle on a sanding stick.
IMG-9391.jpg


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Instead of using the kit-supplied decals for the yellow markings on the prop blades, I've made a custom mask to paint them.  The yellow is a 4:1 mix of Tamiya Yellow and Tamiya Orange.
IMG-9388.jpg




The spinner and blades were painted in the same green color, which was a 4:1 mix of Mr Hobby Aqueous RLM82 Light Green and Tamiya Flat White.  Both the spinner and blades have been lightly chipped.  I've added an additional joint on the spinner along with some rivets.  Painting is done but the weathering is not.
IMG-9393.jpg

 

Edited by Thunnus
Posted

The prop and pitot look great. What grit did you use while sanding the brass? I need to do something similar on an upcoming project.

 

Always enjoy seeing your paint and weathering process, the prop looks like it's ready to spin up and take off.

 

 

 

Matt 

Posted
On 5/31/2025 at 4:41 PM, scvrobeson said:

The prop and pitot look great. What grit did you use while sanding the brass? I need to do something similar on an upcoming project.

 

Always enjoy seeing your paint and weathering process, the prop looks like it's ready to spin up and take off.

 

 

 

Matt 

Thank Matt!  I'm not sure what grit the sanding stick was but it was on the coarser side.

 

The prop blades and the spinner have been given some salt weathering.  I've also used some pastels to create streak marks on the spinner but they aren't very noticeable in the pics.

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Posted

I felt a little compulsion to do some riveting so I did the horizontal tail parts.  The reference drawings are from Kagero Monograph #18 and the riveting tool of choice is the Galaxy Tools 1.00mm rivet wheel.
IMG-9405.jpg

 

 

The rivet lines are drawn onto the model using a soft lead pencil.
IMG-9406.jpg

 


The rivet lines are made by rolling the wheel along the lines.  After the rivet holes are done, the lead is wiped off and the surface is sanded to remove the raised mounds of plastic around each hole.
IMG-9408.jpg

 


The tail planes are then given a dark pastel wash to check the work.
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IMG-9410.jpg

 

Posted
On 6/2/2025 at 12:24 AM, alaninaustria said:

Damn John, that is some amazing work! Looking forward to seeing this build come together!

I really like how you build, weather and finish these masterpieces!

Cheers

Alan

Thank you Alan!

 

 

3 hours ago, Shoggz said:

You are a painting and weathering Jedi Master John.

 

The force is definitely with you!

Thanks Richard!

 

 

The combat flaps were designed to be posed in the open position so some surgery is required if you want to close them.
IMG-9411.jpg

 


The flap interior sections on the wing bottoms were carefully cut away.
IMG-9412.jpg

 


The mounting pegs on the flaps themselves also need to be cut off in order for the flaps to sit flush.
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The surgery was fairly straight forward and the flaps seem to fit into the openings without too much drama.  I may need to add thin shims to the ends of the flaps to get rid of the gaps.
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The new tool arrived today.
IMG-9416.jpg

 


As a riveter, this is something I should have had in my toolbox a long time ago.  Hopefully, I'll be able to make any double row of rivets quicker and more accurately.
IMG-9417.jpg

 


The scheme I am planning to do was offered as a limited release by Hasegawa...
Hasegawa-Ki-84-Mainland-Defense.jpg

 

Posted

John,

 

Really fantastic work!  I’m amazed at the attention to detail and the way you switch between dissimilar subjects without even a hiccup.

 

While there are many fine modelers on this site, your builds (and a few others) are among my favorites and new posts are something I always look forward to.

 

Regards,

 

Stan Falenski

Posted
On 6/3/2025 at 10:30 AM, Kenneth Joy said:

Such beautiful work... pleasure to watch you build this!

Thank you Kenneth!  I'm glad you are enjoying the process!

 

 

22 hours ago, Rowdy Rat said:

John,

 

Really fantastic work!  I’m amazed at the attention to detail and the way you switch between dissimilar subjects without even a hiccup.

 

While there are many fine modelers on this site, your builds (and a few others) are among my favorites and new posts are something I always look forward to.

 

Regards,

 

Stan Falenski

Thank you for those kind words, Stan!  I really enjoy sharing my builds here and I'm glad that you find my builds useful.

 

 

15 hours ago, spyrosjzmichos said:

Bloody mighty impressive work John!

This is turning out to be a masterpiece! :bow:

Thank you very much!  

 

 

I was really motivated to crank out an update on the riveting for the wing tops but I hit a snag when I found out the wheels on the double row rivet tool are not "synched".  They rotate independent of each other, which is not useful to me in this situation.  I tried a stop-gap measure of leaking some CA glue into the wheel but that didn't have much effect.  So I'm going to take it apart and glue the two wheels to each other.  But the hex nut on the tool is really small and I've had to order a small socket wrench.  The tool is due from Amazon tomorrow so the riveting will have to wait!

 

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